A Broken Promise
by cance
Summary: ...She opened her eyes slowly taking a deep breath before letting her feet touch the cool hardwood floor. Her toes curled slightly and she smiled at how much she loved the feel of his floors underneath her feet...KakXSak...Sequel to Letting Go [One Shot]


This is a one shot following Letting Go. You don't have to read the first story to understand this one.

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!

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The sun trickled in through the window, landing gently on Sakura's cheek warming her skin as she stirred from her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly taking a deep breath before letting her feet touch the cool hardwood floor. Her toes curled slightly and she smiled at how much she loved the feel of his floors underneath her feet. Her hands rose above her head as she arched her back, stretching her muscles while letting out a content sigh from her short nap.

Sakura pulled herself from the couch grabbing a cardboard box from the worn coffee table and proceeded to the wall where she began to take down the small collection of pictures. Her hands lingered over one and she found herself smiling again when the memory floated into her mind. It was particularly hot that day and she had managed to persuade Kakashi to go on a picnic with her, but unbeknownst to him, her and Ino had conspired earlier that day to make it into a couples picnic. Ino brought her current squeeze, Genma, and Naruto of course brought Hinata. In the picture Sakura found herself settled comfortably between Kakashi's legs leaning lazily against his chest as she clutched the arm draped over her. She looked at him smiling as he kissed the tip of her nose with his cloth covered lips. Sakura reminded herself to thank Naruto for snapping such a cute photo of them as she removed the rest of the hanging pictures and closed the box tightly before setting it on the floor with the myriad of other marked boxes.

Sakura grabbed another empty box and entered the room that used to hold a mass of books, now reduced to a single shelf of Kakashi's famously dirty Icha Icha novels. She blew the thin layer of dust that had collected on them over time and wondered when was the last time he had ever touched these. He had so many. Sakura found her eyes skimming over the titles and blushing slightly when she would recognize a novel or two that she had read. She gave the room one last sweeping look to make sure it was empty before leaving with the heavy box tucked tightly under her arm.

She found herself wandering into his bedroom next and was shocked to see how big it looked without his bed pressed firmly against one wall. She opened his small closet seeing a mixture of some of her clothes mixed in with his and began to toss them into a large box at her feet. Sakura grabbed one of his shirts wrapping it snugly around her and inhaled deeply smiling when his familiar scent curled in her nostrils before tossing it into the box with the others. She stood on her tiptoes to pull the extra blankets from the shelf when she felt a slim box slipped in between the layers. She clutched the box in her hands eyes widening in shock when she saw it was a game of monopoly. _Oh so that's where he had hid it. _She smirked to herself noting how she had recently become the master of monopoly and Kakashi had no longer liked to play. He never did like to lose. She made a quick breeze through the bathroom to make sure nothing had been left behind and returned to the living room with the box of clothes.

Sakura's toes brushed along the edge of a thick, plush carpet that lay close to the fireplace and she couldn't resist the urge any longer. She lowered herself slowly to it laying on her back and hands running gently over it as she relished in the feel of it against her skin. She closed her eyes wondering hazily to herself how many nights her and Kakashi had spent on this very carpet in front of the fire in the throws of passion. A sharp knock at the door brought Sakura's thoughts back to the present. "He's early." She muttered in surprise looking at her watch before quickly rolling up the carpet and setting it neatly on the pile of boxes. "Mr. Mashimoto?" She asked questioningly staring at the young man in the doorway.

"Yep that's me. Sorry I'm a bit early, but things ended quicker then I expected." He replied cheerfully brushing the dark brown hair from his face and crinkling his blue eyes in a smile. Sakura stepped out of the way to make room for him to enter.

"Not a problem. Come on in." Her voice was light and airy as she walked into the living room. "So this is pretty much it. It's small, but works well for a single person." Sakura paused slightly allowing the man to take in the place. "The fireplace works and you can fit some larger pieces of furniture in here." She finished quickly before pointing to the room that used to hold all of Kakashi's books. "Um this room here was used mostly for novels, but it could be used as a small office or another bedroom if you wanted a roommate." Sakura tried to read the man's expression, but he kept it unusually blank so she continued on to the kitchen. "It's rather small, but it's manageable. Not a whole lot of...counter space." She paused clearing her throat slightly while repressing the blush as memories flooded her mind of what her and Kakashi had done on those counters. Sakura found herself tucking one of the kitchen chairs neatly under the table as she continued. "It can't hold a large dinning room table as you can see."

"Looks good so far. I wouldn't be doing a lot of entertaining anyways." He replied giving her a small chuckle as he opened a couple of the empty cupboards.

"So this is the master bedroom with the bathroom just over there." She mumbled as she led him out of the kitchen and into the bedroom allowing him to inspect the room. "It really was designed just for one person to live here with the bathroom being off of the master bedroom." He gave her a nod taking a quick peek into the bathroom before returning to the living room. "That's it. There is no washer and dryer so you'll have to use a laundromat, but the neighbours are nice and quiet." Sakura finally concluded giving him a distant smile.

"No this would work really good. Sounds perfect a little to perfect." He stopped abruptly and narrowed his sapphire eyes in suspicion. "You aren't getting rid of it because of a cockroach infestation or something like that are you?" He asked Sakura as he scratched his stubble covered chin. She let out a hollow laugh.

"No it's nothing like that." She paused feeling her chest tighten slightly. "The person who owned this was killed in action." Her voice held a hint of sadness to it and she watched his expression drop.

"Oh I'm sorry." She gave him a faint smile.

"Thank you." Sakura replied sincerely while guiding him to the entry way. "I imagine you probably have a busy day so I won't take up more of your time. Any questions just give me a call." He gave her a nod in acknowledgment smiling again as he left and she closed the door with a small sigh. Sakura found herself drawn to the leather chair that was originally the only piece of furniture first in the apartment and sat down heavily. Out of all the furniture Kakashi had bought over the years they were together she still liked this one the most and her mind unwillingly wandered to when she had heard the news of his death.

_It had been a long day at the hospital and her feet held a dull ache from all the wandering around she had to do. Sakura was excited at the prospect of going home knowing Kakashi would be returning from his mission soon. "Can you bring those down for sterilization?" A nurse asked while handing Sakura a metal tray full of scalpels and scissors. She gave her a slight nod before accepting the tray and continuing down the hallway. She saw a familiar ninja chewing on senbon a distance away and she quickened her pace giving him a large smile._

"_Hey Genma." Sakura faltered slightly at seeing the troubled expression on his face. She gave him a look of confusion as Ino wrapped her arm lightly over his and tears welled in her eyes. "What's wrong?" Fear gripped her heart looking at their sorrow filled expressions. _

"_Sakura I'm so sorry." Ino whispered and she felt the blood drain from her face, but her mind continued to deny what they were going to tell her._

"_Kakashi...he..." Genma choked on his words and began to dig into his pocket. He clutched one of her trembling hands and she felt something being pressed into it. "He asked me tell you that he was sorry he didn't ask you sooner and that he had hoped to never break his promise to you." Sakura opened her hand slowly to reveal a silver band resting on her palm and her breath caught in her throat. The metal tray clattered to the ground and she felt herself slip down the hospital wall, vision fading, while clutching her chest in pain. _

"I always told you to never make a promise you knew you couldn't keep." Sakura muttered dryly as his broken words echoed in her mind. She had worried about him constantly and when his bruised and battered body would be admitted to the hospital after a dangerous mission with him clinging to life she could feel a little piece of her die inside. She had often fought the urge to ask him to stop, but she knew she could never request him to do such a thing because this was the life both of them had chosen. He had sensed the pain this caused her so one night when she was clutched tightly in his arms he whispered that he would always return to her. Because he loved her so much he made a promise he knew he couldn't keep to ease her worrying heart and because she loved him so much she pretended to believe him. A loud pounding startled her from her thoughts and she slowly rose feeling the familiar ache return to her chest. She opened the door to see a gruff, balding man standing before her.

"Roland's Moving at your service." He muttered quickly and she gave him a small nod. She slipped on her shoes and turned allowing her eyes to wander over the apartment one last time letting the memories seep into her brain while her hand fumbled at her neck clasping onto a ring that hung from a delicate silver chain. Warm tears spilled from her eyes as she faced the reality that she could no longer pretend that he would appear around a corner to kiss away her tears and sorrow. Her heart ached with grief at the knowledge that she would never again feel his warm, strong arms wrap themselves tightly around her, making her feel safe and loved. Or the way his lips could make all her worries disappear leaving only the happiness he had brought her. She missed the way he would chuckle at her and how his mouth curved into a devilish grin reserved only for her. Or the way his eyes would crinkle into a smile when he saw her and she longed to gaze into those mismatched orbs again. It was the simple things that hurt her the most. Sakura let herself smile, because she knew he had given so much of himself to her and she cried because she knew with time, she would have had all of him. She didn't wipe away her tears when she faced the man and handed him the keys to the apartment. She let them slip freely from her cheeks hoping the world would taste her bitter agony at losing the only man she truly loved.

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I had trouble deciding if I should tack this onto the end of Letting Go, but in the end I decided since I all ready said that story was complete I would post it as it's own thing. I think everything is clearly laid out so you don't have to read the first story to get this. One of my friends insisted that I put the monopoly game in and for those of you who didn't read the first story it was just an x rated version of the game I guess. Basically it was just meant to show how the relationship changed each individual because in the first story Kakashi's apartment was completely blank and Sakura would refuse to cry because she thought it was showing weakness. Looks like fate had a few cruel tricks up her sleeve for them.

Thanks for reading

Cance


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